Short Reviews [Hotel Hotel - 2017 - "Cactus Hands"]

US band HOTEL HOTEL was formed back in 2006, and in a few active years they released a live EP and two full length studio albums before the band more or less disbanded. The EP "Cactus Hands" is their most recent production, and is actually an archival recording dating back to 2009, just prior to the band dissolving. The style of music here is post-rock, albeit a variety of it that on this occasion strikes me as something of a dedication to their home state of Texas. The music is mainly dampened, and does have something of a desert sound to it. Hence the name of the EP and the one song it contains being "Cactus Hands" I presume. Liberal amounts of slide guitar and eerie, ghostly guitar effects combines with violin textures replicating similar tendencies, with a steady and fairly unobtrusive rhythm section backing it all up. Careful use of keyboards alternating with wandering delicate piano motifs makes up the remaining ingredients at hand. The song rise and fall in intensity and vibrancy, as expected by a post-rock band, and for me at least I rather got some improvisation vibes here as well. As a matter of fact, if cosmic elements had been added, this is a song that might as well have been described as a space rock jam I suspect. So if not improvised in full, at least this creation does at minimum have some improvised elements tucked in unless I'm very much mistaken. While I do not find this EP to be one with a broad overall reach, those who tend to enjoy post-rock of a more careful character, and a band exploring musical landscapes that will make many people think of the US in general and deserts in particular, then this is a band and an EP that will be worth investigating.